


the wrong choice

by quinnking (orphan_account)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-11
Updated: 2013-03-11
Packaged: 2017-12-04 23:16:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/716190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/quinnking
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The choice was hers, she just made the wrong one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the wrong choice

**Author's Note:**

> so, this is basically just regina's thoughts as cora died in her arms. :) enjoy.

The heart was in your hand; warm and pulsing and a radiant red against the darkness of your black leather glove. And as you shoved the heart into your mother's chest, where it belongs, you watched as her back bows at the intrusion of something as foreign as a heart; as love. 

You finally stepped back and watched the magic take place. 

Your mother turned to look at you now, the brightet smile in place. And suddenly it felt like you were nineteen again, finally getting that adoration and devotion you once craved and sought. So, you finally allowed a full, non-malicious smile to grace your features.

She laughed then, _your_ mother. A real laugh, not that laugh you'd gotten so used to hearing when you were a child, or even when she reentered your life. It was an honest-to-God  _real_ laugh. 

And then all signs of that were gone when she clutched ribs in pain, twisting into something completely different than the utter happiness she was showing mere seconds prior. 

"Mother? Mother!" You stared at her, trying to figure out what could be wrong. What  _you_ did wrong; why this was happening in a blink of an eye, amidst the happiness.

"What's wrong?" Before you could even finish the question, she was tumbling toward the ground so you shot your arms out and caught her before she did. You held her close to you, feeling her heart thump against your hand as you grip onto her tightly.

The beat was erratic. _Tha-tha-thump._ Completely different than the heart you were holding prior to putting it in her body. 

And as you were looking down at her, tears clouding your vision (but you wouldn't let them fall; wouldn't let your mother see the weakness within you, not when you have come this far), she suddenly told you, "this would've been enough."

You felt numb because this is when you knew that she wasn't going to make it. So you held her closer and looked down at her with complete sadness. You let a tear or two drop, because what was the use of holding it in when you know she won't be able to reprimand you for it in the long run.

"You would've been enough." 

She was gone after that, the dull thumping of her heart against your fingertips as you held her tightly to you completely diminished; as if it never existed at all. 

Breaking your eyes free from her, you looked up at the man you held ultimately responsible. You were feeling so many emotions at once at the fact that _he_ had lived, your mother's death the cost; anger, resentment, loss, sadness. 

"What's going on?" You turned back to your mother, the constant sobs shaking your body as you cry anew. But you tried to keep your body still, you didn't want to disturb her.

"Mother, don't leave me please." You knew this wouldn't solve a thing, but what else could you do? You had the fill the dull, empty void within you with words. "What am I gonna' do?" you whispered, to yourself and not the man behind you. 

"Your mother did you no favors."

As quick as a whip, your eyes flashed and you looked up towards him. Anger rode through your veins in tidal waves as you snapped at him, "shut up!" You wanted to clench your fingers into tight fists, but you couldn't, because she was still in your arms and you wouldn't disturb her, not in her moments of peace.

"You stole her life! You cast some spell!" 

"I did nothing."

You looked toward her again; her eyes closed, an almost angelic look on her once devilish features. And that was when the realization hit you.

It almost winded you like a punch in the gut, but that didn't hurt as much as Snow White screaming, "Regina, stop!" as she and her Prince Charming barged through the door. Much too late. 

You stared Snow White down, your brain working as it finally dawned on you. "You did this." Your jaw clenched against the words as you glared up at her with so much anger, you could feel it slithering through you like a serpent.

Snow White was going to pay. Of this, you were sure. You would finally get her heart, and you would stop her heartbeat until it was just as dead as your mother's. 

_She'll be proud_ , you told yourself.  _So proud_. 

Revenge is the only thing that matters anymore, and this time, you will get it.


End file.
